Justice Wears a Thong

Chapter 8

When Courtney woke up she found that she was was in a small dim room strapped to a gurney and couldn't move. She was tilted up like Frankenstein's monster. The various torture tools on the table nearby told her that she was about to have a bad day. Tsena was staring at her.

"Good morning sleepy face." Tsena said, with a sing song tone.

"Head." Courtney groggily corrected.

"You aren't in a position to make the jokes." Tsena said calmly.

"Just trying to help with your English, Smerti." Courtney said as she casually as she tested the integrity of each strap.

"Do you know how I got the name Tsena Smerti?" Tsena asked.

"Really? That's your plan? With all the torture devices on the table you're choosing to bore me to death." Courtney said, still testing for a weakness.

"Tsena Smerti means the Price of Death...." Tsena continued, without acknowledging the comment. "Do you know why I am called Price of Death."

"Seriously. There's a giant screwdriver on the table. Just jam it in my eye, I don't care which one. Just good and hard, go for it."

"I'll make it less painful if you play along." Tsena said with a creepy motherly smile on her face.

"Fine." Courtney sighed. "You're name is Anna Price. I can only guess you married Trevor Death at some point. Voilá, Price of Death."

"Who the hell is Trevor Death? "

"Dunno, I'm just guessing. Stan Death? ..... Donald Death? Help me out here."

"NO!" Tsena yelled. " BECAUSE THEY DIE! I AM CALLED THE PRICE OF DEATH BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO DEAL WITH ME, DIE!"

"And people still do business with you? Wow! Just wow. You know the saying. Kill me once shame on me, kill me twice...."

"SHUT UP!" Tsena screamed. "I'm tired of you.

With that Tsena pushed a button on the console next to the table and a door slid open.

A shadowy figure stepped through from the darkness of the open door. Courtney knew who it was immediately. The horror flashed across her face.

"Do you know who I am?" The figure asked, her German accent was almost too thick to understand.

"You have many names." Courtney said with a tremble in her voice. "But I know you as Winnipeg."

"Vinnipeg? Vwhy?"

"Because whenever someone gets anywhere near you they wish they were somewhere else." Courtney replied.

"Zis ees funny." The german began to laugh. But it wasn't a laugh so much as a string of snorts in short bursts. It was the most annoying thing Courtney had ever heard. She made a mental note not to make any more jokes.

"No. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Karlen Thommler, also known as the Butcher of ...."

"...Berlin" Courtney finished.

"Ahh, you do know me. Zis eez good. Zen you know vwat I can do vis you. Shall ve get started?" she asked.

"I should warn you. Top agents are on the way, right now. You should use your time to get away." Courtney said.

Tsena laughed. "Top agents? You mean like you? This is not a problem. Do you want to see the last top agent who dropped by."

Tsena nodded and Thommler pushed a button. A small door slid open at the floor. There was a low guttural growl coming from the dark hole.

"LEO! COME!" Tsena yelled and a what used to be a man leapt from the darkness into the room. He ran, half on feet, half on all fours, towards Courtney. When he got about 6 feet into the room his head yanked back and his feet flew out in front of him. That's when Courtney saw the chain around his neck. He kept trying to run at Courtney and every time his head you got snapped back when he got to the end of the chain. It was clear he was more animal than man.

"This is Leo. Or rather WAS Leo. He was once a top agent just like you. We spent some quality time with him and now he's almost feral. Oh how I do like my pets." Tsena said cruelly. "I wonder what would happen if we let him off the leash?"

Courtney tested the straps again. This time she was not as subtle. She fought hard against the restraints. The thought of being bitten by that rabid man thing was almost more than she could bear.

As The Butcher of Berlin started up the bone saw all Courtney could think was, 'This is really going to suck."